The present invention relates generally to the field of racks for supporting computer and other electronic equipment, and more particularly to the field of enclosed vertical cable raceways having a multitude of cable rings formed in the sides thereof for precisely routing cables and wires to equipment stored in the rack.
Racks, frames, cabinets and the like for supporting computer and other electronic equipment are very well known. Similarly, raceways for routing cables and wires to and from that equipment are likewise well known. In particular, a number of raceways have been proposed for routing cables, wires and the like (generally referred to hereinafter as xe2x80x9ccablesxe2x80x9d) vertically through or adjacent to equipment racks, frames, cabinets and the like (generally referred to hereinafter as xe2x80x9cracksxe2x80x9d). Such raceways may be used to route cables vertically to equipment mounted or otherwise supported on a rack from other equipment on the rack, from overhead or underfloor raceway, or the like. These cables are generally routed in the vertical direction to a point adjacent to the desired equipment and then routed in the horizontal direction to the desired equipment.
An important characteristic of such raceways is the presence of a plurality of openings in the sides of the raceway through which cables may be routed, thereby facilitating more convenient access between the equipment and the interior of the raceway. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,921,607 to Caveney (xe2x80x9cCaveneyxe2x80x9d) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,705,949 to Weiss (xe2x80x9cWeissxe2x80x9d) each disclose a covered wiring duct or wireway which includes side walls having a series of finger-like projections separated by openings. The cables may be routed through the openings by bending them around the projections, thus allowing the cables to be routed with relative precision, and preventing cables from hanging loosely across the face of the rack itself. A gap at the distal ends of each pair of adjacent projections permits cables to be inserted into each respective opening. The gap is narrower than the opening, thus aiding in the retention of the cables within the opening. The distal ends of all the projections may then be covered by a cover, thus providing further retention capability.
Unfortunately, both the Caveney and the Weiss designs suffer from a number of drawbacks, including most particularly the relatively limited size of the openings. The openings between the Caveney projections are only approximately as large as the size of the projections themselves, and the openings between the Weiss projections, although of a somewhat unusual shape, are actually even smaller in area than the projections. Such small openings are frequently inadequate to handle the large number of cables that are frequently routed horizontally from a certain elevation on a vertical raceway to the equipment mounted thereon. Thus, vertical raceways having larger openings are required. Further, if a cover is to be installed on the Caveney or Weiss raceways, it must be carefully aligned with all of the distal ends of the projections and pressed into place, and no provision is made to allow the cover to be hinged open once installed.
More recently, a number of raceways have been developed having a small number of widely spaced fingers or other retention members projecting from a trough. Between each pair of adjacent projections is a wide opening which is many times larger than the width of the projections, such that a raceway for a full height rack might have only six or eight sets of projections. Unfortunately, because so few projections are available for the cables to be routed around, this type of raceway does not allow cables to be routed as precisely as with the Caveney and Weiss type of raceway, there is a much greater chance of cables dangling loosely, and/or cables of greater length must be used in order to reach a projection before being bent toward the desired equipment.
Still more recently, a new vertical raceway has been made available by Panduit Corp. The Panduit raceway utilizes a PVC trough attached to a steel base. The trough includes a base member and a plurality of narrow finger-like side members extending perpendicularly therefrom. A slit, narrower in width than the fingers, is formed between each pair of adjacent fingers for routing cables therethrough, similar to the Caveney design. Barbs at the distal ends of the fingers limit access to the slits to only a narrow gap, thereby preventing cables which have been installed in the slits from accidentally becoming dislodged. Advantageously, each finger is scored near the base member so that it may easily be broken off and removed, thereby creating a wider opening for receiving cables. A hingeable cover may be attached to the distal ends of the remaining fingers by clipping a plurality of hinges in between the tips of the fingers and attaching the cover thereto. The raceway may be attached to the side of a rack to route cables to electronic components mounted on or in the rack by guiding the cables vertically to a location adjacent to the selected component and then through one of the openings formed between the fingers.
Unfortunately, the Panduit raceway still suffers from a number of drawbacks. First, once fingers are broken off of the Panduit raceway to create larger openings, they cannot be replaced. Further, if one or more fingers is broken off to create a larger opening, the gap between the fingers which remain to define the opening is quite large, with very little material or structure remaining to retain the cables in the opening, other than the raceway cover. Also, the Panduit cover may be attached only using hinge members which are each mounted on the distal ends of a pair of adjacent fingers, rather than to the trough itself, thus increasing the risk of mechanical failure, particularly as the cover is opened and closed.
The Panduit, Caveney and Weiss raceways include other drawbacks as well. For example, the unibody construction of the side walls limits the construction and relative dimensions of the projections and the openings created thereby because the projections must be formed from the same material as the rest of the walls, and, in the case of Panduit and Caveney, from the same material as the base of the trough. In addition, the unibody construction limits the installation flexibility otherwise available if the projections could be selectively disposed at various locations along the raceway without affecting the body of the raceway itself.
Perhaps most significantly, none of the cable rings formed in the sides of known prior art raceways are arranged to align precisely with the equipment mounting locations on the racks to which the raceways are attached. It is well known that the vertical dimension of racks is frequently measured in standardized units. The most common unit of measurement is the xe2x80x9crack mounting unitxe2x80x9d (xe2x80x9cRMUxe2x80x9d). An RMU is commonly defined as 1.75 inches in height. Electrical components as well as accessories, which include horizontal raceways, patch panels, and the like, are also commonly measured in RMU""s. For example, a 2 RMU component is one which is 3.50 inches or less in height. Thus, a rack which has 45 RMU may accommodate components and accessories totaling 45 RMU. Further, to conserve space, components and accessories are frequently installed only at vertical locations corresponding to a whole number of RMU""s in order to avoid interfering with adjacent components and accessories.
Unfortunately, none of the known prior art raceways take this arrangement into consideration. Thus, the cable rings or similar structures provided on prior art vertical raceways are not properly aligned with the equipment and accessories to which they must route the cables. As a result, the shortest path from the interior of the raceway to the equipment or accessory destination is frequently blocked by the body of one of the finger-like projections. Moreover, smaller components and accessories may not have any cable rings whatsoever disposed next to them. For high density wiring routes, cable rings may become unnecessarily overcrowded because they must be diverted through other cable rings. Thus, a need exists for a cable raceway having cable rings disposed at a standardized interval which corresponds to the mounting locations of the equipment and accessories stored in the rack.
Briefly summarized, the present invention relates to vertical cable raceways for precisely routing cables to electronic components at particular elevations in a cabinet, frame or other mounting rack. Broadly defined, the cable raceway according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a trough having a base member and two side members; and at least one separable cable guide installed on the edge of a side member, the cable guide including a plurality of projections forming cable rings for guiding cables laterally from the side of the trough.
In features of this raceway, the cable rings are disposed relative to each other at an interval corresponding to a standard rack mounting unit; the interval is exactly one standard rack mounting unit; a dimension of each cable ring is selected to correspond to a standard rack mounting unit; the trough is made from a first material, which may be a metal, and the cable guide is made from a second material, which may be a plastic; a side member includes an aperture, and the cable guide includes a correspondingly-disposed boss for mating with the aperture when the cable guide is installed on the side member; the cable guide includes at least two planar members forming a channel therebetween, and an edge of a side member is disposed in the channel when the cable guide is installed on the side member; one of the planar members is a planar flange extending generally the length of the cable guide; another of the planar members is a tab which may be one of a series of tabs aligned along the cable guide; the cable guide includes a positioning boss for guiding the cable guide into place on the side member; and a side member includes a slot extending toward the cable guide and the positioning boss is adapted to engage with the slot.
In a second aspect of the present invention, a cable raceway for routing cables to electronic equipment includes: a trough having a base member and two side members, at least one of the side members including a primary longitudinal portion extending from the base member and a secondary longitudinal portion, the secondary longitudinal portion being inwardly offset from the primary longitudinal portion; and a cable guide, including a plurality of projections, disposed along a distal edge of the secondary longitudinal portion and extending in a direction generally perpendicular to the base member of the trough, wherein the cable guide extends laterally beyond the secondary longitudinal portion, and wherein the primary longitudinal portion extends laterally beyond the cable guide.
In features of the second aspect, the primary and secondary longitudinal portions are planar in form and the primary and secondary longitudinal portions are generally parallel to each other; the cable guide includes a channel and a distal edge of the secondary longitudinal portion is disposed within the channel; a second side member includes a primary longitudinal portion extending from the base member and a secondary longitudinal portion inwardly offset from the primary longitudinal portion, wherein a second cable guide includes a plurality of projections and is disposed along a distal edge of the secondary longitudinal portion of the second side member and extends in a direction generally perpendicular to the base member of the trough, wherein the cable guide extends laterally beyond the secondary longitudinal portion of the second side member, and wherein the primary longitudinal portion of the second side member extends laterally beyond the cable guide; and the primary longitudinal portions of the side members define a maximum width of the cable raceway and the width defined by the outermost surfaces of the cable guides is less than the maximum width of the cable raceway.
In a third aspect of the present invention, a rack for mounting electronic equipment includes: a pair of vertical support members for supporting at least one electronic component, wherein the vertical support members define a plurality of mounting locations; and a vertical cable raceway disposed generally adjacent one of the vertical support members, the raceway having a trough and a plurality of outwardly extending projections forming a plurality of cable rings, wherein each cable ring is disposed at a height corresponding to one of the mounting locations defined by the vertical support members.
In features of the third aspect, the mounting locations are disposed at a standard interval from each other; the standard interval corresponds to a whole number of standard rack mounting units; the standard interval is a single standard rack mounting unit; a cable ring is disposed adjacent to each of substantially all of the mounting locations and aligned therewith; and each cable ring is disposed at a height corresponding to a whole number of standard rack mounting units.
The present invention also includes a method of routing cables in a equipment mounting rack, wherein the method includes the steps of: providing a rack having a plurality of equipment and accessory mounting locations at positions corresponding to a standardized rack mounting unit; providing a vertical cable raceway having a trough and a plurality of outwardly extending projections forming a plurality of cable rings; and attaching the raceway to the rack such that each cable ring is aligned with a mounting location.
In features of this method, the step of providing a rack includes providing a rack having a plurality of equipment and accessory mounting locations at intervals of one rack mounting unit; and the step of providing a vertical cable raceway includes providing a vertical cable raceway having a plurality of outwardly extending projections forming a plurality of cable rings disposed at intervals of one rack mounting unit.
In another aspect of the present invention, a rack for mounting electronic equipment includes: a pair of vertical support members for supporting at least one electronic component; a vertical cable raceway disposed generally adjacent one of the vertical support members and having a trough and a plurality of outwardly extending projections forming a plurality of cable rings, wherein each projection includes a reinforced base tapering to a narrow shaft and a crosspiece disposed at the distal end of the shaft, wherein each cable ring and each shaft have a vertical dimension, and wherein the vertical dimension of each cable ring is substantially larger than the vertical dimension of each shaft.
In features of this aspect, the vertical dimension of the each cable ring is more than three times as large as the vertical dimension of each shaft; and the distance between the centers of adjacent projections is substantially equal to a standard rack mounting unit.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, a cable raceway for routing cables to electronic equipment includes: a channel assembly having a trough and a plurality of projections extending therefrom, the projections for guiding cables laterally from a side of the trough, wherein each projection has a distal end; and a cover assembly having a cover and a plurality of hinge supports, wherein the cover is disposed at the distal ends of the projections, wherein the structure of each hinge support is reinforced relative to the structure of the projections to support the weight of the cover, and wherein each hinge support is disposed adjacent to a plurality of projections.
In features of this aspect of the present invention, each hinge support has a proximal end and a distal end, the hinge support being supported at its proximal end by the trough, and the distal end of the hinge support supporting the cover; cable rings are formed by adjacent pairs of projections; the projections are generally T-shaped; a narrow gap is formed in each cable ring between adjacent projections, and the vertical dimension of the gap is substantially smaller than the vertical dimension of the cable ring; each hinge support includes a hinge and the cover may be hinged open and supported on the hinges; the projections are disposed at intervals substantially equal to one standard rack mounting unit; the hinge support has a vertical dimension substantially equivalent to the projection intervals; the trough defines two sides, at least one hinge support is disposed along each side, and the cover may be hinged open about the hinge supports on either side of the trough; and each hinge support has a vertical dimension substantially equal to a single rack mounting unit.
In still another aspect of the present invention, a cable raceway for routing cables to electronic equipment includes: a double-channel assembly having at least one base member and at least one pair of side members, forming two separate back-to-back channels, and a plurality of projections extending from the side members for guiding cables laterally from a side of the double-channel assembly; and a pair of cover assemblies, each having a cover having at least two lateral edges and at least one hinge disposed along each lateral edge, wherein the cover may be hinged open about the hinges along either lateral edge of the cover.
In a feature of this aspect, the cable raceway includes a plurality of lock assemblies, wherein each hinge has an individual lock assembly associated therewith, each lock assembly being selectively deployable in at least two states, wherein the deployable states include a locked state wherein the cover may be hinged open about the hinge corresponding to the lock assembly, and an unlocked state wherein the cover may be separated from the channel at the hinge corresponding to the lock assembly.